Coupling.



I. E. POWELL.

COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED DEC; 15, I914.

Patented May 3.0, 1916.

STATES rA'rE OFFC 'Jiissn E. POWELL, or SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA.

COUPLING. V

Specification of Lttters Patent.

Application filed December 15, 1914.. Serial No. 877,404.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Jnssn E. Pownnma citizenof the United States, residing at Sebastian, in the county of St. Lucieand State connection with automobiles for readily coupling a vehicle toan automobile and as readily uncoupling the same therefrom.

" The invention contemplates, among other features, the provision of acouplenof a simple construction and consisting of few parts, the couplerbeing so designed and constructed as to insure an effective connectionbetween a vehicle, such as a wagon, and an automobile, whereby the wagoncan be readily connected to the rear of the automobile and beeffectively drawn thereby over the ground.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, constituting a part of this specification, inwhich similar characters of reference denote coresp'onding parts in allthe views, and in which: v Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of thecoupler showing the same applied; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional viewtaken on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; transverse sectional view taken on thelme 3-3 in Fig. 1; Fig. 1 is a detail plan view of a portion of theplate.

Referring more particularly to the views,

I disclose the usual rear spring 10 of an automobile and which has itsvarious leaves 11 connected at their central portions by a transversebolt 12. Partially encircling the spring 10 and extending transverselythereto are straps 13, the ends of said straps passing transverselythrough a rearwardly extending member 15 in the nature of a flat plateor bar and which has an inner offset portion 16 terminating in the.a-pertured ear and an offset shank 17, the inner oil'set portion 16being formed in order that the inner end of the member 15 will fitagainst the under side of the spring 10. The ends of the straps 13 areadapted to'receive suitable nuts 18 to hold rigid engagement with themember 15. I

The free end of the shank 17 of the mem- I ber 15 is enlarged to form ahead 19 having a substantially semi circular depression or recess 20 anda plate 21 adapted for conand Fig. 3 is a vertical the ends of the strapin I claim nection with the head bysuitable screws or bolts 22, saidplate 21 also having a semicircular depression or recess 23 and whichrecesses 20-and 23 form a socket or seat for a ball-like head 24: formedat the-forward end of and constituting a part of a V-shaped couplingmember 25, the sides 26 of which are Patented Ma 30, 1916.

will extend rearwardlyv from the spring- The coupling member is adaptedto be bolted tothe thills of the vehicle and when it is desired toconnect the vehicle to the automobile the ball-like head 24 is arrangedin the recess or depression of the head 19 of the shank, the plate 21having been removed. The plate is now fitte over the closed portion ofthe ball-like head and thus it will be seen that the head 19 and plate21, with their corresponding recesses, form a socket for the ball-likehead 24 whereby, when theplate 21 is bolted to the head 19 'and theautomobile is advanced over the ground, thevehicle connected with theautomobile by the'coupling member will readily follow and be drawn bythe automobile .and also-will be steered or guided thereby due to theconnection between the automobile and the vehicle, said ball-like headbeing freely movable in the socket formed by the head 19 and plate 21 soas to permit the vehicle to readily follow and be guided by theautomobile in its progress over the road. Thus the autotmobile will bein thenature of a tractor or means'f-or drawing another vehicle and byhaving the coupling described, it will be seen that this can beeffectively accomplished, and that the coupling consists of few andsimple parts which can be readily applied to the automobile andparticularly to Ford cars, said coupling furthermore permitting ofreadily connecting the' vehicle to the automobile and as easilyuncoupling or disconnecting the same therefrom.

Having thus A coupler of the class described comprising in combinationwith a suitable support previously described my invention, I v

rectangular in cross section, a V-shaped member having its apex formedinto a ball and apertured extremities, a plate carrying a socket at oneend cooperatlng with said ball and having its remaining end portionshaped to have flat contact with the under surface of said support andflat contact with a portion of the side thereof, and further benthorizontally to form an apertured ear, a pair of U-bolts eachstraddling. said support with one limb passing through said ear and theother passing through an inter mediate portion of the plate so as toprevent movement of the plate away from the support, nuts for the bolts,a third bolt passing through said support and a nut threaded upon saidthird bolt and seated within said plate for preventing movement of theplate along the support.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature 2c in presence of twowitnesses.

JESSE n. PUWELL.

